2022 Ficomontanino, Bulgarelli, Toscana Rosso ITG, Tuscany, Italy.
The 2022 Ficomontanino “Bulgarelli” is beautifully dark garnet in the glass with a bright fresh intensity on the palate with tangy black cherry, huckleberry, plum and currant fruits leading the way, along with subtle earthy tones, balsamic notes, hints of wild herbs, dried flowers, cedar and anise, all tucked into a medium body. This wine, named after winemaker Maria Sole’s grandfather’s prized stallio, is 100% Sangiovese sourced from sandy clay soils. It was fermented naturally with indigenous yeasts and saw a two-week maceration period with daily punchdowns. Then it was matured in a combination of cement and steel vats for about 12 months, after which it was bottled without fining or filtration. Maria Sole is part of a growing trend of women run wineries in Italy and is one that is passionate about natural winemaking and focusing on the environment to produce her soulful expressions, like this Bulgarelli IGT Rosso, which is exceptionally pure and only 12.5% natural alcohol. This is a delicious and very food friendly Sangiovese that is drinking lovely right now.
Holistic winemaker Maria Sole’s estate is called Ficomontanino or translated as Little Fig Mountain, an dwas originally a property her grandfather acquired in the 1960s as a place to produce olive oil and breed horses. The winery is located in the far southeast of the Tuscany region near the town of Chiusi. Ficomontanino is technically part of Tuscany, but as Sole’s importer Neal Rosenthal says, the geographically and spiritually of the place speaks maybe more to Umbria, or even Lazio, the two closest regions. Rosenthal adds that Sole’s 12 hectares of vines, planted at around 350 meters altitude on the south-facing slopes of her family’s property, one can see Lake Trasimeno in Umbria to the east, the mountains of northern Lazio to the south, and the rolling hills of Siena to the northwest. Maria Sole was inspired by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Masanobu Fukuoka to reimagine her family’s vineyards as part of a larger ecosystem, and when she gained responsibility for them in 2014, she set about establishing a natural equilibrium on the property, incorporating biodynamic preparations, allowing vegetation to grow freely, and relying on only bare traces of copper-sulfate to treat her vineyards.
($30 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive